Down from Scandinavia : stage 18 (final)

The final day of riding! I forgot to set my alarm clock so I ended up leaving later than planned. The Causses, limestone plateaus that are found in this region make for really interesting driving and a beautiful scenery. As I left thos plateaux and came down towards southern France, the weather got insanely hot. In one village where I stopped for buying a couple of bottles a wine the temperature was 40C. When you are wearing a padded jacket, an helmet and long pants it is not long before you start cooking. The air was so hot that opening my visor for just a minute would start dessicating my mouth lips and nose. Luckily, a lot of the roads in southern France are bordered with massive Oriental planes that will create a a natural green roof for kilometers and kilometers. Sadly, those trees are also very prone to fungal infections and the French government is cutting down an increasing number of them each year so it will not be too long before the roads become exposed again.

Unlike other days, I wanted to arrive home as soon as possible rather than take my time and enjoy the way. I may event have costed me one or two fines because I am pretty sure I got flashed by a few radars. There is a possibility that I will escape it because those radars that I saw were front facing and unlike cars, motorcycle do not have a license plate on the front.

I made it in no time to Toulouse and was greeted with an apéritif on the banks of the Garonne, a most welcome change from a diet of mostly sandwiches, pasta and cheap fast food meals.